


Some People are Worth Disappointing

by EnchantressEmily



Category: Widdershins (Webcomic)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Declarations Of Love, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Starts as Angst and ends up as Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:33:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22641085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnchantressEmily/pseuds/EnchantressEmily
Summary: Will is upset by a letter from his parents, until Vincent gives him something much more important to think about.
Relationships: Vincent Knott/Will Sharpe
Comments: 6
Kudos: 13





	Some People are Worth Disappointing

**Author's Note:**

> My friend commented that it was getting to be the time of year for Valentine's Day fics, and suddenly this happened...

Will leaned his elbows on the counter and stared glumly down at the letter lying there. He had read it at least a dozen times already, but he kept coming back to it like poking at a bruise, or as if it might suddenly say something different.

Eliza had tossed him the letter when he arrived for work that morning, saying, “This was in with the post for the apothecary. Must be from someone who doesn’t have the direction for your lodgings.” She had been on her way out the door to work herself, and Will didn’t think she had noticed how he had stiffened when he recognized the handwriting. He hoped she hadn’t, anyway.

Will stuffed the letter back into his pocket and dropped his head in his hands, digging his fingers into his hair; normally he was careful not to disarrange the smooth waves, but there was no one around to see. Why, when he was finally standing on his own and making a life for himself – a life that actually made him happy – did his family have to start messing with his head again? It wasn’t fair.

Someone touched his shoulder lightly. “W-Will? Are you okay?”

Will jerked upright in surprise; he hadn’t even heard the shop door. Vincent stood on the other side of the counter, his green eyes wide and worried. Not just his usual generalized worry, but real worry for _Will_ ; somehow that still took Will by surprise, that someone like Vincent should care so much about him.

“What are you doing here?” he asked. “Don’t you have classes?”

“Eliza sent me a note saying she thought you needed me,” Vincent answered. “I t-told the professor it was a family emergency.”

Will flushed; apparently he hadn’t hidden his distress from Eliza as well as he thought. “I’m flattered,” he said lightly, trying to pull his normal manner around him like a protective garment. “But it’s nothing, really. No reason for anyone to –”

“ _Will._ ” Vincent cut him off. “You don’t have to do that with me, y-you know that. Please tell me what’s wrong.” He reached across the counter and grasped Will’s hand; a simple gesture, but it never failed to make Will melt.

Will sighed and ran his free hand through his hair again. “I got a letter from my parents this morning,” he said after a moment. “It’s the first time I’ve heard from them since – since you and I met. I wrote months ago to tell them I’d been expelled and was working here now, which I suppose is how they knew where to send the letter, but they never… well, anyway. It’s just a note saying they’ve stopped the monthly allowance I used to get at university – nothing I didn’t already know, but the way it’s phrased… they couldn’t have made it any clearer that I’m a complete disappointment. Again.”

Without a word, Vincent came around the end of the counter and wrapped Will in a tight hug. Will let out an unexpectedly shaky breath and hugged him back, resting his cheek against the springy dark curls. Vincent’s stocky body had a reassuring solidity, with just enough padding to soften the corners; even just holding onto him made Will feel better.

“Th-they’re worth disappointing, Will,” Vincent murmured. “Don’t listen to them. I know you’re not a d-disappointment, and so does Eliza.”

Will laughed a little, ruefully. “Glad somebody does. I thought I was done caring what they thought about me, you know? But when I read that letter, it was like I was fifteen again and getting lectured for bad marks in school. No matter what I did, it was never good enough.”

Vincent tipped his head back to look into Will’s face. “Then it’s their fault f-for not appreciating you as you are,” he said seriously. “If they l-looked at what’s really there instead of what they think should be, they’d see all the good things about you.”

Will swallowed an urge to ask him to list those good things in detail. “Well, of course,” he said putting on his most charming smile. “Who wouldn’t?”

Vincent, evidently undeceived by this, gave him a long, steady look, then raised a hand to touch his cheek. “There’s m-more to you than most people realize, Will,” he said softly. “You’re funny and brave and determined, and once somebody earns your loyalty, they’ve got it for life. Th-that’s – that’s part of why I love you.”

Will’s breath caught. For all the kisses he and Vincent had exchanged in the past months, this was the first time one of them had said those words aloud. They hadn’t been casually spoken, either; he was familiar with the quirks of Vincent’s speech by now, and that stammering hesitation told him it had taken some effort to work up the necessary courage.

“Vincent…” he began, and trailed off, for once in his life not knowing what to say.

Vincent seemed to draw into himself, lowering his eyes and gripping his hands together, and Will realized it must have sounded like he was trying to decide how to let him down gently. He quickly reached out and took the clenched hands in his.

“Vincent,” he said again, consciously dropping his barriers to let his emotions show. “You’re amazing, you know that? You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I…” He took a deep breath. “I love you too.”

Vincent’s eyes lit with joy. He leaned in closer, raising his face to Will’s, and Will bent his head to meet him.

By the time the kiss ended, they were wrapped securely in each other’s arms again. Vincent rested his head on Will’s shoulder, smiling. “I don’t think I’ll m-mention this part if my professor asks me what the emergency was,” he murmured.

Will chuckled. “Thanks for being here,” he said, stroking Vincent’s hair. “Eliza was right about me needing you. You always make me feel like I’m actually worth something, and… and that really helped today.”

The letter’s words had lost much of their sting, he realized. Maybe the family he had been born into didn’t care about him, but now he had people who did – Eliza, who had given him a job and kept her sharp, perceptive eye on his well-being; Mr. Knott, who had had him over to dinner with Vincent and Eliza several times and treated him with a sort of plain-spoken, unpretentious kindness that was new to him; and most of all, Vincent. Vincent, who saw the best in him when no one else did, who had unhesitatingly put aside his own responsibilities to comfort him, who was nestled in his arms right now as if it was the only place he wanted to be. Vincent, who loved him.

Will tightened his embrace and dropped another light kiss on Vincent’s temple, silently telling him again, _I love you too._


End file.
